That Guy: Loosie legend now a ghost of World Cups past

Don Ferguson died during our interview. Photo / Supplied

Opinion

Well, the Rugby World Cup has kicked off and so has my hangover - but that won't stop me writing for you today. (For the record, my deadline for this column is Thursday, so you would be right is assuming I had a fairly big night on the Wednesday, two days prior to tournament kick-off, but I digress).

In keeping with the celebratory rugby theme, I interviewed international rugby great Don Ferguson.

Don's twin brother never reached the sporting heights that Don did, as he died at childbirth, but Don always maintained that when he took the field he was playing for him as well.

Don was part of the infamous rebel All Black team of 1944 that toured Wales, Ireland and Hong Kong.

I caught up with Don at his Ponsonby home in Glenfield. Don moved his house there in the early 1980s, just before Ponsonby prices went through the roof.

Until recently Don lived there with his wife, Lorraine, but sadly she turned off her own life-support machine after continuing marital difficulties.

Don was a loose forward and played alongside other household names such as Jock Heineman, Peter Fitzgibbons and the original "Johnny the shoe", John Nomad.

Don believes in old-fashioned values and thinks that his team would have given the current crop of All Blacks a run for their money.

"The game is fundamentally the same. It's a little faster now and they are probably fitter, but we could have adapted if you paid us enough."

I asked Don what he thought about the commercialisation of the game and, from his answer, I got the impression that he didn't really hear the question properly, or was suffering from a form of dementia.

"In our day there was a war going on in Europe and Japan, and a lot of our mates died fighting for their country while we were on a bit of a junket touring Wales, Ireland and Hong Kong.

"I think about those guys all the time, especially if I am in Hong Kong or watching a war documentary on the History Channel. You have to remember it was pretty tough for us as all the best players were fighting overseas, so we had a pretty shallow bench."

In recent years Don has been rather outspoken on a number of issues, and controversially believes that the haka has been too "Maorified", or in his words: "hijacked by the Maoris".

"We had a pretty good thing going and then they came along and turned it into something I don't even recognise any more. What will they want next?"

Buck Shelford, a man often credited with making the haka what it is today, didn't want to be drawn on the issue.

When I asked him what he thought of Don as a player, he diplomatically replied: "I have never heard of him."

With the kettle whistling in the background, I began questioning Don about the World Cup and who he thought would be New Zealand's greatest threat, but before I could finish the question he let out a wheezy gasp and died.

Neither the sound recordist nor myself could revive him, so we terminated the interview at 11 minutes past 2pm.

This column is dedicated to Don Ferguson, 1924-2011. RIP.

Editor's note: Readers, don't be fooled. Leigh didn't meet his Thursday deadline and he was joking last week when he said Happy Feet died.